Latest Anthrax Newshttp://www.medindia.net/healthnews/anthrax-news.asp
Medindia largest health website in india.en-usCopyright 2018. All Rights Reserved.Mon, 19 Mar 2018 23:20:29 GMThttp://www.medindia.net/news/cryo-electron-microscopy-identifies-lethal-anthrax-protein-complex-163736-1.htm
bHighlights/bul class="group-list punch-points"liResearchers identify key features in the anthrax protein complex
that facilitate entry into host cell./liliThe toxin protein complex found to act as a 'conveyor belt' for
bacterial entry./liliThe study provides insights into possible drug target./li/ul
The three dimensional structure of the a href="http:www.medindia.net/patients/patientinfo/anthrax.htm" target="_blank" class="vcontentshlink" alt="Information ...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/cryo-electron-microscopy-identifies-lethal-anthrax-protein-complex-163736-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/1979-anthrax-genome-sequence-generated-by-deep-dna-sequencing-methods-163354-1.htm
The anthrax bacterium produces small capsules, or spores, that can lie dormant for decades. After settling inside the human lung, for example, it can cause a severe disease that, if not treated with antibiotics, kills 90% of those it infects.
Using deep DNA sequencing methods researchers from the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Northern Arizona University (NAU) have generated the anthrax genome sequence from the victims of the 1979 anthrax outbreak in Sverdlovsk, Russia, when it was part of the USSR....]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/1979-anthrax-genome-sequence-generated-by-deep-dna-sequencing-methods-163354-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/anthrax-kills-one-in-russia-90-hospitalised-162326-1.htm
Anthrax is a rare but serious bacterial illness. A boy has died from anthrax in Russia's Siberian region of Yamal while 90 others were hospitalised, officials reported.
"Currently, in the hospital of the Salekhard, there are 90 persons brought from the hotbed of the outbreak," Xinhua news agency cited local media quoting Natalya Khlopunova, spokeswoman of the Yamal region's governor as saying.
On Monday, a 12-year-old boy died after being diagnosed with anthrax. An outbreak of the highly ...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/anthrax-kills-one-in-russia-90-hospitalised-162326-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/anthrax-toxin-proteins-can-suppress-tumor-growth-161220-1.htm
Scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), all parts of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), describe how combining engineered anthrax toxin proteins and existing chemotherapy drugs could potentially yield a therapy to reduce or eliminate cancerous tumors.
The findings, based on testing in mice, will appear this week in the ...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/anthrax-toxin-proteins-can-suppress-tumor-growth-161220-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/us-army-probe-blames-a-general-and-other-officials-in-anthrax-scandal-157033-1.htm
The Pentagon said that a US Army probe blames a general and several other officials for contributing to an anthrax scandal that saw live samples of the deadly bacteria shipped across the United States and overseas.
The investigation followed the May 2015 discovery that low levels of live anthrax spores had been discovered in an Army shipment supposed to only contain dead spores. The samples originated from the Dugway Proving Ground research center in the Utah desert, and officials later determined ...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/us-army-probe-blames-a-general-and-other-officials-in-anthrax-scandal-157033-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/south-korea-to-investigate-on-the-delivery-of-deadly-anthrax-samples-at-us-air-base-151417-1.htm
An on-spot investigation will be conducted at the Osan US air base for the faulty delivery of live anthrax samples by a US military laboratory to the Osan Air Base, said the defence ministry of South Korea.
The joint task force will visit the Osan Air Base of the US Forces Korea (USFK), some 50 km south of Seoul, at an earliest possible date to thoroughly probe the accidental delivery of the deadly anthrax samples, said the ministry .
The task force, composed of military and diplomatic officials ...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/south-korea-to-investigate-on-the-delivery-of-deadly-anthrax-samples-at-us-air-base-151417-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/sixty-six-laboratories-located-in-19-different-us-states-received-active-anthrax-149866-1.htm
Up to 66 laboratories received samples of active anthrax by mistake and are located in 19 different US states, the District of Columbia, Australia, South Korea and Canada, according to the Pentagon. The last estimate from the US Department of Defense on June 3, placed samples sent to 51 facilities in 17 states.
The two new states to have joined the list include Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, which also received samples from the US army facilities of Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, Efe news agency reported....]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/sixty-six-laboratories-located-in-19-different-us-states-received-active-anthrax-149866-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/live-sample-of-anthrax-sent-to-australia-by-a-military-lab-us-officials-149513-1.htm
US authorities investigating the mistaken shipment of Live Anthrax by a military lab have discovered another batch of the lethal bacteria dating back to 2008, some of which was sent to Australia, officials have revealed.
The revelation suggested a wider problem in the handling of anthrax samples, which were supposed to be rendered inactive by irradiation at a US Army facility in Utah.
Military and health officials launched a probe after a commercial lab in Maryland last week found a live ...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/live-sample-of-anthrax-sent-to-australia-by-a-military-lab-us-officials-149513-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/18-laboratories-may-have-received-live-anthrax-samples-us-officials-149485-1.htm
Anthrax is a serious infectious disease caused by bacteria known as Bacillus anthracis. Many people know about it from the 2001 bioterror attacks, when someone purposely spread anthrax through the US mail. US authorities have reported that a total of 18 laboratories may have accidentally received live samples of anthrax shipped out by the American military. But as yet, only one of the facilities, in the US state of Maryland, has confirmed to have received a live sample, the Pentagon and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said....]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/18-laboratories-may-have-received-live-anthrax-samples-us-officials-149485-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/anthrax-kills-two-16-hospitalized-in-jharkhand-india-148968-1.htm
Two persons died of suspected anthrax and 16 other villagers are suffering from symptoms of anthrax at Simedga district in Jharkhand, India. Five months ago anthrax killed seven people and has returned to Jharkhand.
Civil surgeon B Trivedi said that one man died on May 4 and another on May 6 following anthrax symptoms. Sixteen other villagers also showed symptoms of anthrax and are now being kept under observation.
The state chapter of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Program (IDSP) has ...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/anthrax-kills-two-16-hospitalized-in-jharkhand-india-148968-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/researchers-find-bits-of-anthrax-and-bubonic-plague-on-new-yorks-subway-146335-1.htm
Researchers from Cornell University have provided the first map of New York's subway microbes, identifying more than 1,688 types of bacteria and one station that even supports a 'marine ecosystem'. Although a vast majority of the bacteria are harmless to the 1.7 billion annual travelers, the disease-causing bacteria that are resistant to drugs were found in 27 percent of samples, out of which two samples were found with DNA fragments of anthrax and three with a plasmid associated with bubonic plague....]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/researchers-find-bits-of-anthrax-and-bubonic-plague-on-new-yorks-subway-146335-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/us-health-chief-faces-congress-over-a-dangerous-mixup-of-flu-and-anthrax-139044-1.htm
The chief of the US government's top public health agency is to testify in Congress over a series of dangerous mixups in the handling of anthrax and influenza.
Tom Frieden, who leads the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is expected to face tough questions from the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations at the hearing, beginning at 10 am (1400 GMT).
Last week, the CDC admitted to five incidents over the past decade -- two of them in recent months ...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/us-health-chief-faces-congress-over-a-dangerous-mixup-of-flu-and-anthrax-139044-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/us-authorities-say-greater-number-of-lab-employees-exposed-to-anthrax-than-initially-thought-137766-1.htm
Authorities in the US have raised the number of employees at a government science lab who were accidentally exposed to anthrax to 86, up from the initial count of 75.
The count "may go up more as more come forward," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesman Tom Skinner told AFP.
The workers at the Atlanta headquarters of the CDC have been given antibiotics and are being monitored for signs of illness.
The "unintentional exposure" occurred at a high-security lab "after established ...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/us-authorities-say-greater-number-of-lab-employees-exposed-to-anthrax-than-initially-thought-137766-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/accidental-anthrax-exposure-poses-health-risks-to-cdc-scientists-137747-1.htm
Scientists belonging to an Atlanta lab, numbering 84, have been possibly
exposed to live, active anthrax bacteria, reports the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDS).
A week ago, the CDC's bioterror rapid response and advanced
technology laboratory discovered to their shock that they had
inadvertently sent live anthrax bacteriaout to scientists in three other
labs.
One of the labs that received the samples was a bioterror facility that had
proper security procedures in place to handle infectious agents....]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/accidental-anthrax-exposure-poses-health-risks-to-cdc-scientists-137747-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/lethal-factor-may-be-x-factor-for-anthrax-vaccine-135588-1.htm
A section of the anthrax toxic Lethal Factor could help produce a more effective vaccine, a team of researchers have identified.
Anthrax is a potentially lethal disease caused by a bacterium called iBacillus anthracis/i. The bacteria produce spores that when inhaled, ingested or absorbed into the skin release toxins. When anthrax affects the lungs or intestines it can cause death within a few days whilst infection of the skin (cutaneous anthrax) is less dangerous.
Infection can occur ...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/lethal-factor-may-be-x-factor-for-anthrax-vaccine-135588-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/unusually-large-virus-kills-anthrax-agent-research-131063-1.htm
In Southern Africa, from a zebra carcass on the plains of Namibia, an international team of researchers has discovered a new, unusually large virus (or bacteriophage) that infects the bacterium that causes anthrax.
The novel bacteriophage could eventually open up new ways to detect, treat or decontaminate the anthrax bacillus and its relatives that cause food poisoning. The work is published Jan. 27 in the journal iPLOS One/i.
The virus was isolated from samples collected from carcasses ...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/unusually-large-virus-kills-anthrax-agent-research-131063-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/anthrax-bacteria-play-hide-and-seek-epfl-researchers-127927-1.htm
The bacterium which is responsible for causing anthrax develops a strategy reminiscent of the Trojan horse tale.
Its pathogenic factor is able to penetrate inside a cell in such a way that it becomes completely invisible to both the immune system and medical analysis. Furthermore, it manages to exit the cell several days later and then it continues to poison other cells.
This mechanism was discovered by researchers from EPFL, the University of California at Berkeley and the National Institute of Health in Washington....]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/anthrax-bacteria-play-hide-and-seek-epfl-researchers-127927-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/researchers-reveal-science-behind-anthrax-toxins-causing-illness-and-death-124426-1.htm
Cells in 2 distinct areas of the body is being identified by researchers that are simultaneously targeted for damage by anthrax toxins, which results in illness and sometimes death.
Findings of researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, both part of the National Institutes of Health, are based on testing in mice.
According to researchers, however, the results may contribute to the development of anthrax treatments for humans....]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/researchers-reveal-science-behind-anthrax-toxins-causing-illness-and-death-124426-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/crucial-questions-about-anthrax-exposure-answered-123717-1.htm
Health care providers and policy makers would need key information to protect people from anthrax in the event of a anthrax terror attack on the US. This information includes knowledge about the likelihood of an individual becoming infected, how many cases to expect and in what pattern, and how long to give antibiotics.
Those questions gained urgency when anthrax-laced letters killed five people and infected 17 others in the wake of the terror attacks of September 2001. Now, using information ...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/crucial-questions-about-anthrax-exposure-answered-123717-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/new-sea-compound-helps-protect-against-anthrax-122287-1.htm
A novel compound found in an ocean microbe could pave way for effective treatment options for anthrax, says study.
Scripps researcher Chris Kauffman in William Fenical's group first collected the microorganism that produces the compound in 2012 from sediments close to shore off Santa Barbara, California.
Fenical's team in the Scripps Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, working in conjunction with San Diego-based Trius Therapeutics, used an analytical technique known ...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/new-sea-compound-helps-protect-against-anthrax-122287-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/scientists-discover-new-kind-of-antibiotic-may-be-more-effective-at-fighting-tuberculosis-anthrax-and-other-diseases-120091-1.htm
Thanks to a team of scientists led by Kenneth Keiler, an associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State University, diseases such as tuberculosis, anthrax, and shigellosis -- a severe food-borne illness -- eventually could be treated with an entirely new and more-effective kind of antibiotic. In a research paper that will be published in the journal iProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences/i during the week beginning 3 June 2013, the team describes 46 previously ...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/scientists-discover-new-kind-of-antibiotic-may-be-more-effective-at-fighting-tuberculosis-anthrax-and-other-diseases-120091-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/scientists-use-dead-zebras-to-understand-the-spread-of-anthrax-in-africa-117924-1.htm
According to findings from a small study conducted in Etosha National Park in northern Namibia, scavengers might not play as key a role in spreading anthrax through wildlife populations as previously assumed.
Wildlife managers currently spend large amounts of money and time to control anthrax outbreaks by preventing scavengers from feeding on infected carcasses.
The effort might be ill spent, according to results published in iApplied and Environmental Microbiology/i by an international ...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/scientists-use-dead-zebras-to-understand-the-spread-of-anthrax-in-africa-117924-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/fda-approves-raxibacumab-for-treating-inhalable-anthrax-111522-1.htm
...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/fda-approves-raxibacumab-for-treating-inhalable-anthrax-111522-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/anthrax-vaccine-to-counteract-world-bioterrorism-threat-107152-1.htm
A team of scientists from Cardiff University bids to develop a vaccine against anthrax to help counteract the threat of bioterrorism.
Working with scientists from the Republic of Georgia, Turkey and the USA, Professor Les Baillie from Cardiff University's School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences is leading a NATO project to tackle the potential misuse of anthrax.
"Currently the majority of the world's population is susceptible to infection with Bacillus anthracis the bacterium ...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/anthrax-vaccine-to-counteract-world-bioterrorism-threat-107152-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/in-russia-man-dies-of-anthrax-106213-1.htm
RIA Novostihas reported that a man has died of anthrax in Russia's Siberia region after being infected when he handled the carcass of a sick cow.
The incident took place in Druzhba village in southern Siberia's Altai region, said a spokesman for the region's emergency service.
Laboratory tests by specialists from federal agency Rospotrebnadzor confirmed infection in three people, one of whom died, he said.
Doctors said the victim died Saturday, but sought medical aid only a week after ...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/in-russia-man-dies-of-anthrax-106213-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/new-drugs-lean-towards-anthrax-targets-105903-1.htm
Revelation of a clutch of targets for new drugs to combat an epidemic of anthrax or a biological weapons attack by a trawl of the genome of the deadly bacterium iBacillus anthracis/i.
The targets are all proteins that are found in the bacteria but not in humans and are involved in diverse bacterial processes such as metabolism, cell wall synthesis and bacterial persistence. The discovery of a range of targets might bode well for creating a drug cocktail that could preclude the emergence of drug resistance....]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/new-drugs-lean-towards-anthrax-targets-105903-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/anthrax-new-findings-97160-1.htm
Anthrax toxicity depends on human genetics, say researchers.
Among 234 people studied, the cells of three people were virtually insensitive to the toxin, while the cells of some people were hundreds of times more sensitive than those of others. The findings may have important implications for national security, as people known to be more resistant to anthrax exposure could be effective first-line responders in times of crises.
The research also highlights the fact that many lethal pathogens, ...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/anthrax-new-findings-97160-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/pak-pm-received-small-packet-containing-anthrax-last-year-96955-1.htm
A Pakistani government spokesman revealed that that country's Prime Minister, Yusuf Raza Gilani received a small packet containing deadly anthrax powder. According to the police, the package was sent by a woman professor at Jamshoro University from the southern Sindh region. The packet was mailed back in October 2011. The police added that no one came in contact with the powder though they are yet to ascertain the motive for sending the packet. Anthrax is receiving close attention from authorities ...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/pak-pm-received-small-packet-containing-anthrax-last-year-96955-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/Monkeys-Protected-from-Lethal-Infection-by-Anthrax-Capsule-Vaccine-96124-1.htm
U.S. Army scientists have revealed that vaccination with the anthrax capsule protected monkeys from lethal anthrax infection. The capsule is a naturally occurring component of the bacterium that causes the disease.
The study, which appears in the Jan. 20th print edition of the journal iVACCINE/i, represents the first successful use of a non-toxin vaccine to protect monkeys from the disease.
Bacillus anthracis, the bacterium that causes anthrax, is recognized as one of the most serious bioterrorism threats....]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/Monkeys-Protected-from-Lethal-Infection-by-Anthrax-Capsule-Vaccine-96124-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/Anthrax-Defence-from-Natural-Killer-Cells-92748-1.htm
One of the things that makes inhalational anthrax so worrisome for biodefense experts is how quickly a relatively small number of inhaled anthrax spores can turn into a lethal infection. By the time an anthrax victim realizes he or she has something worse than the flu and seeks treatment, it's often too late; even the most powerful antibiotics may be no help against the spreading bacteria and the potent toxins they generate.
Now, though, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers ...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/Anthrax-Defence-from-Natural-Killer-Cells-92748-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/Advisory-Panel-Moots-Testing-Anthrax-Vaccine-in-Children-92635-1.htm
A government advisory panel in the United States has recommended that the federal government conduct a controversial study testing the effectiveness of anthrax vaccine in children but added that ethical issues must be resolved before the test can be conducted. The National Biodefense Science Board voted to back the recommendation to the Health and Human Services Department of conducting the test in order to identify whether the vaccine is effective and safe among children. The panel said that ...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/Advisory-Panel-Moots-Testing-Anthrax-Vaccine-in-Children-92635-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/Report-on-Anthrax-Attack-Antibiotic-Staging-91571-1.htm
A report released by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) provides guidance to U.S public health officials to develop plans to pre-position antibiotics that can be distributed to public in case of anthrax attack.
The report recommends that public health officials work with the federal government to assess the benefits and costs of strategies that pre-position antibiotics close to or in the hands of people who will need quick access to them should an attack occur. The goal is to get antibiotics ...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/Report-on-Anthrax-Attack-Antibiotic-Staging-91571-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/Rare-Anthrax-Case-in-Minnesota-Triggers-Terrorist-Act-Scare-88904-1.htm
An affected person traveling through the Western states was hospitalized and Minnesota health officials said Tuesday they are investigating a rare case of anthrax inhalation linked to exposure to the dreaded bacteria in the natural environment.
The FBI briefly investigated the case because anthrax has been used in terror attacks. But the bureau determined there was "no evidence suggesting it was a criminal or terrorist act," the Minnesota Health Department said in a statement.
There was ...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/Rare-Anthrax-Case-in-Minnesota-Triggers-Terrorist-Act-Scare-88904-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/Suitcase-Sized-Device-to-Detect-Anthrax-on-the-Anvil-88841-1.htm
A suitcase-sized device to detect anthrax, which normally requires a full-sized lab and take days to detect, has been developed by researchers at Cornell University.
Anthrax is an infectious disease due to a type of bacteria called Bacillus anthracis and it affects both humans and other animals. Infection in humans most often involves the skin, gastrointestinal tract, or lungs.
The so-called microfluidic device has fluid-pumping, power and computation equipment nicely packed into a 1 centimetre ...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/Suitcase-Sized-Device-to-Detect-Anthrax-on-the-Anvil-88841-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/Chemist-Sets-Path-to-Taming-Deadly-Anthrax-Meningitis-86925-1.htm
A chemist from the University of Copenhagen has done what most renowned doctors could not do.
He has revealed the mechanism behind deadly infections like anthrax, septicemia and meningitis.
Till date, doctors lacked the basic insight to prevent and cure these diseases caused by the so-called Gram-positive bacteria.
However, Danish synthetic chemist Christian Marcus Pedersen has created a synthetic version of a Gram-bacterial endotoxin that is sure to explain the particular symptoms of these diseases....]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/Chemist-Sets-Path-to-Taming-Deadly-Anthrax-Meningitis-86925-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/How-The-Immune-System-Holds-Off-Against-Anthrax-86664-1.htm
Scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences have uncovered how the body''s immune system launches its survival response to the notorious and deadly bacterium anthrax. The findings, reported online today and published in the June 22 issue of the journal IImmunity/I, describe key emergency signals the body sends out when challenged by a life-threatening infection.
Exposure to anthrax often proves deadly....]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/How-The-Immune-System-Holds-Off-Against-Anthrax-86664-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/Vaccine-To-Fight-Naturally-Occurring-Plague-And-Bioterrorism-Too-79934-1.htm
US scientists could be closer to developing a vaccine that fights both the naturally plague and the bacteria that is sought to be used by terrorists for mass slaughter. "Governments remain concerned that bioweapons of aerosolized Yersinia pestis, the bacteria that causes plague, could kill thousands," said Stephen Smiley, a leading plague researcher and Trudeau Institute faculty member. The anthrax scare that followed the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, made the threat of bioterrorism real ...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/Vaccine-To-Fight-Naturally-Occurring-Plague-And-Bioterrorism-Too-79934-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/How-Does-Anthrax-Bacteria-Impair-Immune-Response-76923-1.htm
A key mechanism by which IBacillus anthracis/I bacteria trigger off anthrax infection, despite a formidable immune system of scavenger cells, has been discovered by researchers.
This finding of researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, discovered by studying genetically modified mice, adds new detail to the picture of early-stage anthrax infection and supports efforts to develop vaccines and drugs that would block this part of the cycle....]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/How-Does-Anthrax-Bacteria-Impair-Immune-Response-76923-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/Bioterrorism-Fears-Over-EAfrican-Labs-Voiced-by-US-Senator-76701-1.htm
A US senator has said that poorly secured medical laboratories in East Africa are posing new worries over possible bio-terrorism in a region hosting an Al Qaeda-linked insurgent group.
Senator Dick Lugar, with a visiting Pentagon arms control expert team, told reporters that despite the absence of immediate bioterrorism threats in the region, security in the labs handling dangerous pathogens was critical.
"It is so important that biosecurity be enhanced here and promptly," said Lugar. "Al ...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/Bioterrorism-Fears-Over-EAfrican-Labs-Voiced-by-US-Senator-76701-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/Human-Anthrax-Infects-Over-500-in-Bangladesh-74062-1.htm
Anthrax has infected more than 500 people in Bangladesh where the dairy farming regions are reeling under the outbreak of the disease, commented a health official.
Ten districts have confirmed outbreaks of anthrax in humans and cattle, with the total number of people infected rising to 508 across the country, health ministry director Mahmudur Rahman told AFP.
No humans have died because the cases of human infection consist of cutaneous, or skin, anthrax -- which causes wound-like lesions but is not fatal if treated properly....]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/Human-Anthrax-Infects-Over-500-in-Bangladesh-74062-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/As-Anthrax-Spreads-Bangladesh-is-on-Alert-73661-1.htm
Health officials confirmed that Bangladesh has put livestock and officials on high alert after an outbreak of anthrax spread to more districts, infecting 327 people since mid-August.
The livestock minister suspended all leave and sent teams to the affected districts, department deputy director Mosaddek Hossain said.
The move comes after health officials confirmed that anthrax has infected people in two more districts in the country's north and east, taking the tally to five districts. Outbreaks in two more districts await confirmation....]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/As-Anthrax-Spreads-Bangladesh-is-on-Alert-73661-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/Antibacterial-Enzyme-Found-in-Tears-may-Offer-Protection-Against-Anthrax-73345-1.htm
Scientists have pointed out that an antibacterial enzyme in human tears and other body fluids could offer protection against deliberate contamination with anthrax.
"Data from this study could be used in developing safer foods for human consumption," said Saeed A. Khan.
"The data from our study shows that lysozyme application has the potential to eliminate anthrax producing bacteria in processed foods."
Khan and colleagues knew from almost a century of lysozyme research that the enzyme kills certain bacteria....]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/Antibacterial-Enzyme-Found-in-Tears-may-Offer-Protection-Against-Anthrax-73345-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/Boffins-Make-Advances-Towards-Protecting-Foods-for-Human-Consumption-From-Anthrax-73242-1.htm
Scientists at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) An antibacterial enzyme found in human tears and other body fluids could be applied to certain foods for protection against intentional contamination with anthrax, scientists reported here today .
"Data from this study could be used in developing safer foods for human consumption," said Saeed A. Khan, Ph.D. "The data from our study shows that lysozyme application has the potential to eliminate anthrax producing bacteria in processed foods....]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/Boffins-Make-Advances-Towards-Protecting-Foods-for-Human-Consumption-From-Anthrax-73242-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/Anthrax-Outbreak-Infects-52-in-Bangladesh-73076-1.htm
Health officials are struggling to contain a major outbreak of anthrax in northern Bangladesh, with at least 52 new infections registered in the past week, the health ministry said Monday.
At least 162 people have been infected with the bacteria in nine separate outbreaks in less than a year, but no one has died so far, Mahmudur Rahman, a health ministry director, told AFP.
Most of the cases have been in the rural cattle-rearing region of northern Bangladesh.
"In the latest outbreak ...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/Anthrax-Outbreak-Infects-52-in-Bangladesh-73076-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/New-Study-Outlines-New-Ways-to-Treat-Anthrax-Infection-69132-1.htm
According to a new study, anthrax-causing bacteria can be engineered to shed their invisibility cloaks, making it easier for the immune system to eradicate it.
The study has been published in Microbiology.
The work could lead to new measures to treat anthrax infection in the event of a biological warfare attack.
Bacillus anthracis is a particularly lethal pathogen because it manages to escape recognition by the host's immune system by coating itself with a protective capsule around its surface....]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/New-Study-Outlines-New-Ways-to-Treat-Anthrax-Infection-69132-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/Study-Highlights-New-Measure-to-Treat-Anthrax-Infection-68454-1.htm
Anthrax-causing bacteria can be engineered to shed their invisibility cloaks, which will make it easier for the immune system to eradicate it, a new study has said.
The study has been published in Microbiology.
The work could lead to new measures to treat anthrax infection in the event of a biological warfare attack.
Bacillus anthracis is a particularly lethal pathogen because it manages to escape recognition by the host's immune system by coating itself with a protective capsule around its surface....]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/Study-Highlights-New-Measure-to-Treat-Anthrax-Infection-68454-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/Anthrax-Rabies-Warning-for-Chinas-Quake-Zone-68072-1.htm
China warned Friday of possible outbreaks of rabies and anthrax in its earthquake zone as relief efforts turned toward preventing the threat of disease among stricken survivors.
"After the quake, our key concern is an epidemic of animal-to-human diseases," Li Jinxiang, head of the agriculture ministry's veterinary department, told reporters.
He said animal corpses could be a source of disease. Nearly 28,000 yaks and 13,000 sheep died as a result of the 6.9-magnitude quake in the northwestern ...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/Anthrax-Rabies-Warning-for-Chinas-Quake-Zone-68072-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/Contaminated-Heroin-Behind-Anthrax-Outbreak-In-Scotland-Five-Dead-63335-1.htm
A major anthrax scare has broken out in the UK. This time it has nothing to do with any powder mailed, it is all blamed on contaminated heroin. Five are already dead and six others infected in Scotland. Anthrax is an acute bacterial infection most commonly found in hoofed animals such as cattle, sheep and goats. It usually infects humans when they inhale or ingest anthrax spores, but cannot be passed from person to person. The current outbreak in Scotland was discovered three weeks ago when tests ...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/Contaminated-Heroin-Behind-Anthrax-Outbreak-In-Scotland-Five-Dead-63335-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/Another-Death-Attributed-to-Anthrax-in-Heroin-63041-1.htm
Doctors in Scotland have confirmed another heroin related death in which the drug was contaminated with anthrax, bringing the number of such cases to three. So far five people have been identified to have used the anthrax laced heroin with just two of them responding to the treatment. The first death due to the infection was reported at the Glasgow's Victoria Infirmary while two more patients lost their lives at the Royal Infirmary. Dr Syed Ahmed, who is a consultant in public health medicine, ...]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/Another-Death-Attributed-to-Anthrax-in-Heroin-63041-1.htmhttp://www.medindia.net/news/Officials-Confirm-Second-Heroin-User-Died-from-Anthrax-62741-1.htm
It has now been confirmed by officials that a second heroin user being treated for anthrax at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary has died. This death follows the one reported last week from Victoria Infirmary. "There have been no new drug injecting heroin users with infections admitted to hospitals in the west of Scotland since the weekend," said Dr Syed Ahmed, consultant in public health medicine. "I urge all drug injecting heroin users to be extremely alert and to seek urgent medical advice if they experience an infection....]]>http://www.medindia.net/news/Officials-Confirm-Second-Heroin-User-Died-from-Anthrax-62741-1.htm